Have you ever felt like you just needed to get out of where you are, take a group of young people with you and taste a very different, more liberating way of living? Technology and digitally connecting with others unite us in ways that are different than before. Twenty-four hour news coverage bombards us even when we think we’re immune. The increase in the pace and complexity of life as well as the rise in spontaneous and unpredictable violence can fragment our lives, and make the challenge of growing to adulthood a very risky and uncertain proposition.

Dan consults with the faculty leadership team of Equality Charter School in the Bronx and volunteers at Tenor High School, an urban high school in Milwaukee. One essential ingredient missing for many of our young people is exposure to the natural world. One encounter with horses in an idyllic, natural setting can dramatically affect the quality of both your own relationships and those of your youth group going forward. What horses offer is unconditional acceptance of who we are. What they want and respond to is our unconditional openness to and acceptance of what they are. One taste of this exchange can change everything! For everyone.

As someone working with young people, you have probably seen how children come into the world as little bundles of curiosity and wonder; everything is new and everything new awakens excitement and awe. Then, something sad happens to much of this curiosity: it disappears or gets tampered with and distorted into something else. And, if you work with young people you also know there is a brilliant light in the center of their heart; it is time to awaken it and bring it more fully into their life. Horses open up doorways to our original curiosity and light, extraordinary human gifts with which we came into life. Now is your time to taste these in yourself and in those you serve!

Available in half-day to one day packages. No prior experience with horses is required.

For those who are passionate about young people, you’ll leave with …

• A fun and exciting day with horses and your young friends in a safe setting
• Ways of modulating or playing with your own energy, gaining flexibility and awareness
• First-hand experience seeing what positive encounters with horses does to your relationships with your group and with their relationships with each other
• Different ways of connecting to and building trust with horses
• A renewed sense of what’s possible for you now and with your youth group
• A day of wonder as you and your young people step outside normal life and taste a different, more refreshing way to live now

Inspire your group to step outside normal life and taste a different, more refreshing way to live.

Military service is a unique creature known only to those of us who served and to our families. Within this experience there are many varieties. Stateside versus overseas deployments. Combat versus non combat. Front line versus support personnel. What all have in common is an immersion in a way of living often far removed from civilian life, a strong mission-centered mindset coupled with the acquisition of skills which are not readily transferable to the world we return to. It’s as if we speak a different, alien language. The Landing Zone series is a non-riding program designed as a safe place for vets to share experiences and partner with each other to take our next steps into the best version of ourselves.

Change and transitions work best when the destination and current position are both known. Sometimes, though, one or both of these points is unclear or murky. We are asked by life to face the unknown and keep moving. There often is considerable pressure applied to conform to prescribed ways of thinking, living and working. The price of belonging can compromise what we know is the life uniquely our own. Nobody wants to be successful living another’s life; we’d rather fail at our own.

What you can expect in The Landing Zone …

• Time with horses at a horse ranch in southeastern Wisconsin
• Authentic conversations about life, work, relationships and change with other vets
• Activities to help you re-set, stay centered and grounded in the midst of turmoil
• A time to challenge yourself with new learning in a new environment with horses (no experience required)
• A safe and supportive time to go deeper and explore soulful possibilities
• An energizing day with colleagues, seasoned coaches and magnificent horses

A safe place for vets to share experiences and partner with each other.

If you are traveling or vacationing in the Chicago-Milwaukee area consider spicing up your time away with an exciting 2-4 hour session with horses. Just being in their presence is enough to bring adventure and a spark of fun into your trip! This is a non-riding adventure, open to those with little or no experience with horses as well as seasoned horse people.

This little getaway will leave you with …

• New adventures to share and stories to take home! You’re on vacation. Need we say more?
• Direct experiences with amazing animals and practice communicating with them in ways that may surprise you
• A well-deserved break from normal life that revitalizes, restores and excites you.
• A brief step into the natural world and a taste of your life at a different pace, while breathing more deeply and thinking and feeling in ways you may have forgotten.
• Experiment with living in a different rhythm with other beings — horses — showing you how

Bring adventure and a spark of fun into your trip!